Like everyone, you’ve probably read somewhere in the press that electric cars are coming to displace internal combustion engines in the not-too-distant future. So let us try to answer an absurd question: how many more nuclear reactors would be needed today if all passenger vehicles in France were to become electric ? In trying to answer that absurd question, we might actually learn a few things of interest.
Author Archives: Sister Maurice
China by the numbers
In my latest post about climate change, I argued that China’s unique economic system explains a big chunk of the country’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and by extension of the world’s CO2 emissions. In particular, I made a link with monetary policy by pointing out that credit supply by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) lied behind the housing and infrastructure construction boom that has taken place in China. Today’s post will explore that phenomenon further.
Recommended reading, 13 August 2019
Today’s post is unusual in that it is short and does not provide fresh, home-made analysis using data. Instead, I would like to alert you to a couple of articles I’ve been reading online and which I enjoyed very much.
Our atmospheric mess
In an earlier post, I made the point that CO2 emissions were tightly coupled to economic growth, and that this had to do with our reliance on fossil fuels for producing the goods and services that make up GDP. In this new post, I will provide more detail on where those CO2 emissions come from. And as you will see, some of the results can be rather surprising.
Monetary madness, an update
Just as I was publishing my latest post introducing readers to the crazy world of unconventional monetary policy, two things happened that only heighten my concerns about quantitative easing and its effects on wealth distribution, financial stability, and the environment.
Monetary madness, a primer
I would like to tell you today about monetary policy. I don’t assume everyone to be familiar with monetary policy and central banks, so let me offer you a brief overview of what that means exactly.
Adding fuel to the fire, literally
In my first post, I pointed out that global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions had increased every year since 1965 and that the relationship between economic growth and those emissions was very solid and relatively stable over time. In this new post, I will try to provide some more background on why that is the case.
Plus ça change…
I’d like to tell you about inertia. Inertia is a very powerful thing and it is wrecking us at the moment.
Sister Maurice 